Keo Seima, Cambodia – Capturing a tiger on camera has always been Ed Pollard’s goal, but now it’s a necessity. His Wildlife Conservation Society has staked its prestige on a pledge to boost tiger numbers by half across six Asian sites over the next 10 years.

The Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area in northeastern Cambodia is one of the locations. So collecting accurate data on tiger numbers and food sources is crucial. The $10 million initiative, Tigers Forever, was officially launched in January.

As few as 5,000 tigers survive in the wild in Asia, down from about 100,000 a century ago.

The New York-based group has 15 pairs of cameras covering paths and trails across nearly 80 square miles of the Cambodian forest’s core. They are moved every few weeks, set in pairs because tigers must be photographed on both sides before identification is definite.

The conservation group has been operating here since 2002, the year it got its first – and so far only – tiger photo. But paw prints are found quite often.

Of all the sites in Asia, the Cambodian one has the fewest tigers, probably no more than 10. But country director Joe Walston is confident of hitting the target, in part because the zone has plenty of prey. “As tiger habitat, it’s close to optimal,” he says.